


Grouptale [REWRITE]

by iHateFridays



Series: Grouptale [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Fallen Humans - Freeform, Grouptale, Multi, Undertale AU, human souls undertale, idk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-26 21:35:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30112395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iHateFridays/pseuds/iHateFridays
Summary: Instead of dying before Frisk, the six fallen humans instead join Frisk on their journey through the Underground. But things are not what they seem. How do they escape? What is Frisk hiding? And much more... cover by me.
Series: Grouptale [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2215911
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Welp… here we are again. I hope you're ready for all this crap all over again. Ha ha ha. Nah for real, thanks for coming back. Idk how different this will be from the og but there'll definitely be some changes…
> 
> This is probably gonna be my last long fanfic for a while… thanks in advance for coming to read :D Also, you can find the cover on all of my art social media, deviantart iHateFridays, tumblr ihf-arts, my instagram ihatefridaysihf, and my Twitter FridaysHate.

_Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS._

_One day, war broke out between the two races._

_After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell._

_Many years later…_

An illustration depicted a mountain in the bronze colouring, surrounded by a forest. Text read,

MT EBOTT

201X

A child with short, brown hair reaching the back of their head and wearing a striped sweater was climbing up the mountain.

Text read, _Legends say a child climbed up the mountain and disappeared, never to be seen again_.

More illustrations followed, showing the child disappearing into the mountain.

" _Since then, no one has climbed the mountain_ ," Percy read, observing the odd illustrations. " _No one knows what happened to the child_." He adjusted his glasses. "They couldn't have just disappeared. Something must've happened to them."

Percy brought out his favourite notebook with a hard, purple cover and began taking down notes. "But what…? Did they trip down? Were they kidnapped?" He eyed his laptop. "Legends say that monsters live under the mountain. But monsters can't _possibly_ exist. Can they? Perhaps it's a metaphor."

Percy continued taking down more notes. He was gathering as much information as possible, although what he had was pretty barren. He fidgeted with his large, cloudy glasses. He was tan with shoulder-length, neatly cut black hair that framed his face. He wore a purple sweater with a black stripe across the center and a few on the arms. He wore grey tights and black boots to match.

Whatever the case, Percy was determined to find out what had happened to the child who had the unlucky fate of disappearing on Mt. Ebott. He'd planned to visit the town's library and search for books related to the topic… and maybe some manga as well.

Percy was about to leave when his best friend Melody entered. She watched him with her sharp blue eyes. She had dark skin with dark, curly hair tied into a messy bun. She wore a light blue leotard with light blue stripes and knee-length light blue tights. On her feet were ballet shoes.

"You've been in here all day, Percy," she told him. "Are you sure you don't want to come outside with the rest of us?"

"No, thanks," Percy replied, grabbing his notes. "I was actually going over to the library to continue my research."

"By yourself?" Melody asked, raising her brow. The library was a fair distance away.

Percy nodded. Melody grimaced. Well, when it came to studying, Percy was very independent.

"Who's going out?" Brayden asked, popping his head in. "Nerd boy! You've been in here all day! How's your nerdy stuff going?!"

"It's called research," Percy sighed. "I'm going to the library."

"BORING!" Brayden commented, blowing a raspberry. "Come on, dude! You don't have to study all the time! This isn't even school-related!"

Brayden had fair skin and bright orange eyes underneath thick brows. He wore a brown tank top with orange stripes, as well as grey shorts. He wore black and white sneakers with white socks. Around his spiky, slicked back light brown hair was a red bandana with abs crudely drawn on the front.

Percy grimaced. He hated talking to Brayden. It made him feel so… small.

"Let him do what he wants, Brayden," Melody sighed. She stared at Percy. "Please ask my mother if you can leave. I don't want you getting into trouble."

"Trouble?" Now Clover was in the room, leaning against the wall, yellow eyes glowing. She adjusted her cowboy hat. She had a pistol attached to her hip. She wore a pale brown and yellow striped sweater with a yellow bandana around her neck. Her skin was dark olive and her hair was dark brown, tied back into a low ponytail.

"No one better be in trouble," She stared at Percy, who hid his red cheeks behind his notebook. "Howdy, pardner. Haven't seen ya all day!"

"I'm going to the library." Percy mooched towards the door. He hated everyone staring at him. He felt even smaller.

"I like the library." a quiet voice spoke up. It belonged to Faye, who was followed by Cody. Faye had blonde hair tied up by a faded, red ribbon. She wore a white t-shirt with light blue stripes, grey pants, and black shoes. She had pale skin.

"Libraries are nice," she continued. "I like the quiet and the big bean bags you can sit on. Then on Saturday mornings the library staff read stories to you. Once, this lady read a story about-"

"Yeah yeah, libraries are cool, blah blah," Brayden interrupted. "You know what!? We should ALL go out! Not to the library but to the park!"

"Going out sounds like fun." Cody commented, smiling. "We could go to the bakery!"

His eyes lit up. He was good friends with the baker's son, since they were both cooking-obsessed. For some reason, Cody felt a strong connection to that boy as well…

Cody loved cooking so much he always wore his favourite stained apron over his white-and-green striped sweater. Like twin his sister Clover, he had dark olive skin, and dark brown hair. However, hair was short and swept across his forehead, and his eyes were green instead of yellow.

Cody hesitated. "Um, well, if you guys want to, that is!"

"Goin' out sounds dandy." Clover agreed, eyeing her twin brother. She was an extremely overprotective twin sister, and because of this, no one ever messed with his Cody. They didn't want to have to deal with his scary twin sister.

"I like the sunshine on days like this." Faye commented, staring at the ceiling. "Birds are singing and flowers are blooming."

"Very well, we'll go out," Melody said, adjusting her bun. "As long as my mother says we can."

"Do we have to ask your mom?" Brayden asked irritably.

"Yes," Melody replied, glaring at him. "It's very important." Her arms were shaking. "Mother needs to see that we can handle ourselves."

Brayden rolled his eyes. "Mama's girl."

…

Melody's mother said the kids could go out as long as they stuck together and didn't cause problems. Melody, being herself, decided that she would make sure nothing went wrong.

The kids went out into the town. Percy wanted to go straight to the library. Brayden wanted to go to the park. Faye didn't mind. Cody said he didn't mind, but he secretly wanted to go to the bakery. His sister wanted to check out the police station - to admire it, mostly. Melody wanted to go to some music store and check it out. No one could agree on anything (aside from Faye who wasn't fussy).

Eventually they decided to go to the bakery, since everyone was hungry. Cody couldn't help but grin to himself.

Now, my readers, the exciting part starts here. To get to the bakery, the kids had to cross a road. Unfortunately, they had to jaywalk. Melody made them line up responsibly and wait until it was safe.

"Don't be stupid, Brayden." she scolded Brayden who looked like he wanted to run across the road for the sake of it. The group waited until cars stopped coming.

Finally, the children could cross the road. They crossed easily, chatting casually. It was all going well until Faye dropped something on the ground.

"Oops, my plastic knife." she muttered, leaning down to pick it up. She didn't see the car speeding towards her.

"FAYE!" the kids screamed.

But it was too late. The car was coming too fast. Faye froze up.

It was over.

...or was it?

Suddenly, something leaped out of nowhere and pushed Faye off the road, saving her life. It was a quick flash of red, something speedy, something like that. They landed on the other side, banging into a bin. Faye's saviour was holding her tightly, and carrying her knife, too. They helped her stand up.

Faye was too stunned for words. She accepted the toy knife from her saviour. Their eyes appeared to be closed. They had short, brown hair reaching the back of their head, yellow skin, a blue and pink striped shirt, as well as blue pants and brown boots. They were holding a stick for some reason.

"Hey," the kid smiled at her, hands on hips. "You okay?"

Faye trembled. "Ye… yeah… thank you…"

"No worries," the kid grinned. "Maybe just try not to stop in the middle of the road next time, huh?"

They chuckled. Faye chuckled as well, blushing.

"FAYE!" the other kids raced over.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" Brayden yelled, making Faye stumble back.

"YOU COULDA BEEN KILLED!" Clover agreed, looking just as furious.

"I… I'm sorry…." Faye whimpered quietly, sinking to the floor.

"YEAH, YOU BETTER BE!" Brayden yelled. He punched the bin she had crashed into then gave Faye a tackle-hug. Clover gave Faye a hug too and glared at the speeding car. They were already driving away. Clover reminded herself to go to that police station.

Melody turned to Faye's saviour. "Thank you for saving her."

"No worries," the kid waved it off, still grinning.

"That was so brave of you," Cody's eyes twinkled. "You're amazing!"

"Aw, shucks, it's no big deal," the kid chuckled.

"What's yer name, partner?" Clover asked, walking over to the kid.

"Call me Frisk," the kid grinned, offering a hand. "And you are…?"

"Clover Luckgreen, at yer service," Clover shook their hand. "This here is my brother Cody," she gestured at Cody, who waved, "then Melody and Percy," the two nodded, "and of course, Brayden and Faye."

"Heyyy!" Brayden stood up, running over to Frisk. "What you did back there was AWESOME! How'd you move so fast?!"

Frisk shrugged. "I don't know. Just got lucky, I guess!"

Faye stood up, clutching onto her toy knife. Her cheeks burned as she turned away.

"Ya from 'round here?" Clover asked Frisk.

"I guess so," Frisk shrugged. "You guys heard of the legend of Mt Ebott?"

Percy's eyes lit up. "You mean… the tale of HUMANS and MONSTERS?"

"Yeah, exactly!" Frisk grinned at him. "Do you believe in it?"

"Do you mean the fact that the humans sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell?" Percy asked. "Of course not. It's scientifically impossible."

"You really think so?" Frisk raised a brow. "You can't know that for sure, right?"

"It just does not make sense," Percy responded. "If monsters truly existed, there would be news reports about them everywhere. Their remains, their memories, traces of their existence. But there is no such thing. And of course, don't get me started on the magic aspect."

"Aw, come on," Frisk tilted their head. "Surely you're a little curious about what's going on in there, aren't cha?"

"There's a mountain full of monsters?!" Brayden asked.

"Oh, it's just some silly rumour," Melody crossed her arms. "Obviously monsters don't exist."

"Or do they?" Frisk asked. They shrugged. "Well, whatever. I was on my way to the mountain to investigate if the legend is true. You guys wanna come along?"

Percy grimaced at his notes. He had to admit… he was curious. Were there really monsters under Mt Ebott…?

"Well, I…" he stared down at his papers. "I would be interested, yes."

"Really?" Brayden stared at him. "Thought you only liked libraries, nerd boy."

Percy bit his lip. His arms trembled.

"A mountain, huh?" Clover raised a brow. "Sounds kinda dangerous."

"Well, yeah, but that's the fun of it, isn't it?" Frisk teased. "Who knows what we'll find up there!"

Cody bit his lip, shivering. "I don't like the thought of monsters…"

"Bet I could beat a monster in a punch-on," Brayden grinned.

Melody rolled her eyes.

Faye glanced at her plastic knife. She stood up, walking over to Frisk.

"I… I wouldn't mind going up the mountain…" she mumbled.

"Really?" Melody, Clover, and Brayden all turned on her.

"Well, if Faye and Percy are going, then I'll come too!" Cody grinned.

"You ain't going nowhere without me, bro," Clover grabbed her brother's shoulder.

"DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME!" Brayden pumped his fist in the air.

"Good grief," Melody crossed her arms. "Someone's going to need to keep an eye on the lot of you."

And so, the kids made their way towards Mt. Ebott. They climbed up the looming pathway, slowly approaching the summit. Faye held onto Brayden's arm, Percy stuck behind Melody, and Clover kept a grip on her brother's shoulder. Frisk bounded ahead, occasionally gazing back at their new friends. It seemed they knew the way up the mountain by heart.

Soon, the group of kids reached the summit of the mountain. It was bushy, trees blooming from large rocks, and a looming, dark cave.

Frisk walked towards the cave, holding out their trusty stick.

"Hold on!" Melody raced over to them. "Do you seriously want to go in there?!"

"Yeah," Frisk grinned at her. "I think the monsters might be in there."

"The monsters, huh?" Brayden placed his fist in his palm. "Bring it on!"

"Guys, hold on…" Cody reached out his frying pan.

Percy pulled out his notebook, furiously writing down his observations. His pen shook between his fingers.

_Stay calm stay calm-_

Clover grimaced at the cave, following after Frisk. Brayden charged in after her.

"Slow down, you idiots!" Melody stormed in after the other two.

"Guys, wait up!" Cody was shortly behind, followed by Faye and Percy.

Frisk walked ahead. They couldn't see much in the cave; only a pale light on their own stick. They took a few steps. Something tugged beneath their foot.

"Guys," they turned around. "I-"

And then they tripped. Frisk cried out, flailing backwards. They flew towards a gaping hole in the center, grabbing onto some vines on the sides.

"Uh, guys?!" they cried out.

"Hold on, pardner!" Clover shouted, racing towards them. She offered a hand. "Grab on!"

Frisk tried to reach out, only for the vines they were holding onto to break. Clover reached down further, extending her arm. Frisk gasped as the vine they were holding broke. They screamed as they fell backwards.

"Don't worry, pardner, I'm coming!" Clover grabbed her pistol, jumping in after Frisk.

"CLOVER!" Cody cried out. He raced towards the hole, jumping into the darkness.

"Oh no…" Percy's body trembled. "I…"

He gasped as he tripped on a vine, falling into the hole. He held his notebook to his chest like a lifeline.

"Percy!" Melody cried out. "No - you fools! Come back!"

She jumped into the hole.

"HEY, WAIT FOR ME!" Brayden did a somersault into the hole.

Faye trembled, clutching on to her knife.

_Oh… here goes nothing..._

And she, too, made the plummet. Thus, the journey of Grouptale began…


	2. Flowey and Toriel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thanks for all the feedback already! I'm gonna be posting some new character refs for Percy and Melody soon, so keep an eye on my art social medias if you're interested (mentioned them last chap).

**~Faye~**

The first thing Faye felt when she landed was some kind of flower. And Brayden's entire body.

"Hey!" Brayden yelled, pushing her off. "What the heck, Faye?!"

"Sorry…" Faye mumbled, laying on the flowers. They were nice, golden flowers in a large clump. They were in the middle of some kind of cave. It was dark, but light was coming from above. Faye's friends were there, too - including her new friend Frisk.

"Where are we?" Clover asked.

"I don't know, but we need to get out of here at once!" Melody stood up, brushing off her tutu.

Faye gazed at her with awe. Despite being usually very bossy, Faye greatly looked up to Melody. Sure she was abrasive, but she was well-meaning… the glue that kept everyone together. Faye wished she could be as confident as her…

"We appear to be in a large, underground cave." Percy replied, adjusting his glasses. Faye thought highly of Percy. She could sympathise with him, being a quiet outcast herself. Though in the end, Faye knew Melody was a better friend for him.

Percy observed the golden flowers, pulling out his notebook. "These are the flowers I was researching… they've appeared quite a bit around what I've been observing. Surely they must mean something."

"Uh… how are we gonna get out?" Cody asked, sweating.

Faye quite liked Cody. He was kind to everyone he met, even bullies. And he had an awesome fry-pan and made the best enchiladas that even Faye's aunt couldn't top.

"You," Clover eyed Frisk. " _You_ led us here." She gave them her death stare. "What were you thinkin'?"

If there was anyone that truly scared Faye, it was Clover. Sure, she was easy going and friendly, but she was also scarily protective of her brother and her friends. Faye was glad she wasn't Clover's enemy.

"Me?" Frisk raised their hands. "I-I didn't mean for this to happen! I was just looking around!" They gasped. "Hey… I think this is where all the monsters are!"

"Monsters, huh?" Brayden held up his fists. "They ain't gonna get past me."

"I would rather not encounter any monsters," Melody huffed. "How are we supposed to get out of here?" She turned to Percy. "Climbing, perhaps?"

"Climbing would not work since we require rope," Percy replied.

Brayden was trying to climb up anyway. Faye grimaced, slipping next to Frisk.

"We need rope as the dirt in the wall is not strong enough to carry the weight of any of us," Percy added.

Brayden fell off and landed on top of Melody. She cried out.

"Get your butt out of my face, Brayden!" she shouted.

"I'm tryna get out, MOM!" Brayden retorted, glaring at her.

"Guys, come on," Cody raised his hands. "Does anyone have wifi down here?"

"It seems not," Percy held out his phone, showing no signal.

"Oh great!" Brayden punched the wall. "We're stuck down here!" He glared at Frisk. "This is your fault!"

"I didn't know we'd fall down," Frisk sweat beaded. "But it's fine! I'm sure we can get outta here no problem!"

"Exactly," Clover stood up. "We're gonna figure our way out of this dump."

"Says the one who grabbed onto Frisk in the first place!" Brayden turned on her.

"Don't you shift this onto me, pardner," Clover glared at him.

"How many times do I have to tell you two to stop fighting?" Melody exasperated, her bun growing messier.

"You're just as bad as us, pardner," Clover growled at her.

" _Clover_ ," Cody crossed his arms.

Before long, it was a full blown argument. Cody was trying desperately to calm his sister down, but it was to no avail. Percy slunk against the wall, his breathing picking up. He trembled as he clutched his notes to his chest.

"Wow, they sure like to bicker, huh, Faye?" Frisk teased, beaming at Faye.

"Yeah…" she blushed.

"C'mon!" Frisk gently grabbed her hand. "Let's go and look around! Maybe we'll find an exit."

"Oh, uh, okay…" Faye trailed after them.

The two were walking on a grey path. At the end was a grey gate with a weird symbol on it. The other kids continued yelling and arguing in the distance.

"Hey, Frisk…" Faye turned to Frisk. "I didn't say it before, but… thanks for saving me. It was really nice of you."

"No worries," Frisk grinned. They faced the purple gate. "Hmm, maybe there'll be an exit through here... Whaddya think?"

Faye shrugged. "I guess so…"

And so, Faye and Frisk walked through the gate. They walked in a brief silence.

"Um, Frisk…" Faye grabbed their shirt. "... do you have any friends?"

"Huh?" Frisk raised their brow. "Well, eh, not many I can remember, honestly…"

"Oh…" Faye turned away. "Do… do you want to be friends with me, then?"

Frisk made a face. "I thought we were already friends."

Faye stammered. "Oh, uh…"

Frisk chuckled, squeezing her hand. "Of course I'll be your friend, Faye!"

"Oh, great...!" Faye replied, heart fluttering. Faye hadn't made any new friends (apart from the other five kids, but that wasn't really her doing) for a long time. She hadn't really tried since she moved to Ebott to live at her aunt's house. She almost felt proud of herself. She had made a new friend all on her own.

"Wait, should we really be going this far without the others…?" she asked Frisk.

"Where are y'all goin'?" Clover rushed over, everyone else behind her - aside from Brayden who was way ahead as usual.

"Great timing," Frisk winked at Faye.

"Aw yeah!" Brayden ran in. "We…" He trailed off when he saw Faye and Frisk holding hands. "What the Hell are you two doing?!"

Faye grimaced. Brayden was the friend Faye was least similar to, yet he was her best friend, ironically. They balanced each other out in quite a way.

" _Opposites attract, my little one," Faye's aunt had told her._ Faye's aunt was smart. She knew a lot about people. " _Sometimes in science, sometimes with people._ "

Faye knew she was right. Faye mostly admired Brayden's incredible bravery (and even envied it). He just ran into danger like he did it for breakfast. And then there was Faye herself, who got scared from watching Blues Clues.

Frisk beamed at Brayden, ignoring his qualms. "Come on, guys! The exit might be through here!"

"Why… LET HER GO!" Brayden charged towards them.

"Enough, Brayden," Melody held onto his arm. "Come on. Let's go through."

She dragged him off. The group went through the gate. Clover walked over to Faye, eyeing Frisk.

"You alright there?" she asked, patting Faye's blonde curls.

"I'm fine…" Faye replied. Being next to Frisk made her feel… slightly safer. They were so cool.

"Doing just fine!" Frisk beamed.

Clover stared at Frisk, long and hard. Faye shrivelled away. Luckily, Clover turned her gaze away at the sound of a new voice.

"Howdy!" a living flower - yes, a living flower - was having a good old time on a patch of grass. He was a yellow buttercup with six petals and a big grin. To Faye, he sounded suspiciously like Spongebob.

"Wait, the flower's alive?!" Brayden spluttered.

"This is not possible," Percy mumbled, writing things down, backing against the wall. "Flowers cannot be alive. This is not possible."

"What in the hell is this place…?" Clover asked.

"Wh… what is that?" Cody hid behind his sister.

"This must be a dream," Melody shook her head.

Faye stared at Frisk. They kept their gaze on Flowey.

"That's right, I'm a living flower!" the flower said, still beaming from petal to petal. He cleared his… stem? "Howdy! I'm FLOWEY, FLOWEY the flower! Hmm… You're all new to the underground, aren'tcha?" He eyed every kid except for Frisk. "Golly, y'all must be so confused!"

"Yes, very." Melody commented dryly.

"How are you alive?" Percy asked, kneeling down and observing Flowey. "What sort of power allows a being like yourself to live like one of us?"

"Uh…" Flowey looked away, the bespectacled boy looming over him. "I just am, kiddo!" He made a face. "Anyway! Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do!" He made a bigger smile. "Ready?"

 _Nope,_ Faye thought.

"Here we go!" Before they could blink, the kids were pulled into a strange, black simulation. A bunch of coloured hearts were in a white box.

Flowey was above that white box, still grinning.

"See those hearts? Those are your SOULs, the very culmination of your beings!"

"Whoa!" Brayden yelled, moving his orange heart around and bumping into everyone else. "Get a load of this!"

"Brayden, don't go in my SOUL space!" Melody snorted, moving her dark blue SOUL away from his.

"I've never seen anything like it…" Percy's pen shook between his fingers.

"Wow, mine is green!" Cody exclaimed, petting his green SOUL.

"Green is not a creative colour, Cody." Melody pointed out. Cody looked sad.

"Yellow, like the sun." Clover observed her yellow SOUL. "Nice."

"The sun is actually a flaming ball of gas, which is orange." Percy pointed out.

Clover just chuckled, making Percy hide his face behind his notebook.

Faye didn't say anything. She was observing her light blue SOUL. She let it move from palm to palm. It glowed brightly, matching her eyes.

 _It's so pretty…_ Faye thought.

She gazed at Frisk. They had a red SOUL.

"Red," Faye said, looking at their SOUL. "Like my ribbon. What a nice colour."

"Yeah," Frisk agreed, their smile returning. "Yours is pretty, too."

Faye almost didn't notice Brayden bawling his fists as he stared at Frisk.

The kids continued observing their souls. Faye was patiently waiting for Flowey to continue whereas Frisk, oddly enough, almost looked... bored. Flowey looked bored too and rather impatient.

"Hey, kids," he spoke up, but no one was listening. "Kids," He sounded angry. Still no attention.

"HEY, CUT IT OUT!" he snapped.

Everyone stopped messing around and looked at him. His grin was… twisted. Flowey quickly removed it.

"Now, I'll go on," he coughed. "Your SOULs start off weak, but can grow strong if you all gain a lot of LV. What's LV? Why, LOVE, of course! You want some LOVE, don't you? Don't worry, I'll share some with you!"

"That sounds great!" Cody clapped.

"Hmm…" Frisk narrowed their eyes. "Guys… we should be careful. I don't think we should trust Flowey."

"Why?" Brayden scowled at them.

"It's a talking flower, idiot," Melody sighed. "Is that not enough of a reason to be suspicious?"

"Talking flowers, SOULS, LOVE…" Percy muttered, taking down more notes and muttering weird things under his breath.

Faye shivered. She didn't like the look on Flowey's face.

"Alright, then, y'all," Clover nodded at her friends. "Be prepared."

"Are you kids done talkin' yet?" Flowey asked. "'Cause I've got some LOVE for ya!"

Pellets appeared around him. Frisk's brow creased.

"Down here, LOVE is shared through… little white 'friendliness pellets'," Flowey explained. "Are you ready?"

 _Still no_ , Faye thought.

"Move around!" Flowey chirped. "Get as many as you can!"

The kids moved out of the way. Except for Faye, who was too slow. She suddenly got hurt, and her 'HP' - a measure of her health - was down to 1.

"Ow…" she groaned, cheeks burning. Everyone was staring at her.

"FAYE!" Brayden shouted.

"Are you okay?" Frisk asked, grabbing her hand.

Faye got back up. "Yeah… just a scratch…"

"You IDIOTS," Flowey growled, eyes going huge. "In this world, it's kill or BE killed. It seems your idiot cyan friend here-" Faye felt even worse, "-Ran straight into the pellets. But don't worry! You'll all get to die the same way!"

Pellets surrounded everyone's SOULs.

"HEY!" Brayden yelled at the flower. "LET US GO!"

"No no no…" Percy crawled into a ball and began rocking back and forth.

"You monster." Melody glared at Flowey.

Flowey laughed. "You really think I'M the monster? You should take a look at that kid right there! _They're_ the real monster here!"

He gazed at Frisk, who stood completely still. Faye felt them tense up beside her.

"Whaddya mean?" Clover asked.

"He's just trying to manipulate you," Frisk told her. "Don't worry. We'll get past him!"

"Darn right," Clover held out her gun, aiming at Flowey. The others got ready for combat, aside from Cody who searched his pockets for cookies.

Frisk squeezed Faye's hand. She was trying not to cry. Her heart ached.

"It's okay," Frisk told Faye. "I think someone's coming."

Suddenly, the pellets disappeared. A fireball popped out of the blue and hit Flowey in the side. He sky-rocketed away like a jetpack.

"What a miserable creature, torturing such… oh my, so many poor children!"

It was a feminine sounding voice. It belonged to a goat lady with a purple dress with the symbol from the gate, Faye noticed. Her dress had white sleeves. Her fur was white. She had two small horns on the sides of her head. Her red eyes glowed passively.

The kids grouped together. Brayden grabbed Faye's other hand, ignoring Frisk. Percy shivered, hiding behind Melody. Clover stood in front of her brother.

"Are you a goat or something?" Brayden asked, crinkling his nose.

"Brayden, you can't just ask people if they're goats." Melody grumbled.

"Why not?" Brayden asked, staring at Melody.

The goat lady just laughed. "Oh, you funny little children…"

"Sorry about him," Melody dipped her head. "Thanks for saving us. Who are you?"

"I am TORIEL," the goat lady answered. "Caretaker of the RUINS." She smiled in a mom-like way that made Faye sad. "You must all be so afraid. It has been such a long time since a human fell down, let alone seven. Well, fear not, my children. You will be safe staying near me. Now come! I shall guide you through the RUINS."

"Hold on a minute there, Ms Toriel," Clover spoke up, lightly clenching her pistol. "How do we know we can trust you?"

"Yeah," Brayden agreed. "I mean, like, you could bake us all into pie or something."

"What?" Toriel asked, looking shocked. "How awful! I would never do such a thing!"

"Yeah, guys," Frisk agreed. "I think she's safe."

Faye trusted them. They seemed to know a lot about who and who wasn't dangerous.

"No, my children, I assure you nothing like that will fall upon you in my presence," Toriel reassured the kids.

"Give us a sec," Clover held up a hand.

The humans gathered in a little circle.

"She seems nice, guys," Cody spoke up, grinning. "I think we can trust her."

"Yeah," Frisk nodded. "She saved our lives!"

"Yeah, she's nice." Faye said, playing with a piece of her blonde hair.

_She's almost like Mom before she…_

"According to my calculations and estimations, there is a chance she could trick us," Percy commented, looking up from his notes. "However, there's also a chance she is on our side." He stared at Toriel. "But what kind of creature is she? An anthropomorphic goat? I've never seen a thing such as this… she could be - as ridiculous as this sounds - a _monster_."

"I told you they were real!" Frisk beamed.

"This is preposterous!" Melody shook her head. "Unimaginable!"

"Hate to break it to ya, Mel, but do ya see any other options here?" Clover asked.

Melody grimaced, gritting her teeth.

"I'm not scared of monsters," Brayden retorted, grinning. "I bet I could beat them _all_ up!"

"Monsters…" Faye murmured. She stopped listening to the conversation.

So monsters were real. Faye had only heard of monsters from movies and such. She didn't know how to fight them. She had a toy knife made of plastic and a ribbon and that was it. She wouldn't be strong enough to fight anyone. She didn't really want to fight anyone anyway. The thought of combat made her skin crawl.

 _Not like I'm much good at fighting anyway,_ she thought.

"I think we'll go with you, Ms Toriel." Clover spoke up, zapping Faye out of her thoughts. She'd tuned out of some of the conversation. It didn't matter too much anyway. They'd probably just be arguing over same old same old.

"This way." Toriel smiled at the children and led them away from the grass patch.

They went through a purple gate and came to a purple room with purple bricks and a white staircase leading to another entrance. A pile of red leaves were in the center of the staircase.

Frisk walked over to the pile of red leaves and stood there for a few moments. Faye waited for them. Then they walked away and joined the group as they walked up the stairs.

"What were you doing back there?" Faye asked them.

"Oh, nothing," Frisk shrugged. "Just looking around."

Faye couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of suspicion, but decided not to press.

"Welcome to your new home, innocent ones," Toriel told the kids. They were standing in a small, purple room (the place seemed to be all purple). Silver buttons were on the ground.

"Allow me to educate you in the operation of the RUINS," Toriel walked over a few buttons and flicked a yellow lever on the purple-brick wall. A door opened. "The RUINS are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourselves to the sight of them."

Toriel waited at the door to the next room.

"Bleh!" Brayden groaned. "Puzzles suck!"

"Hmm," Percy eyed the silver buttons.

"Did she say this is our new home?" Clover asked, raising her brow. "Is she sayin' we're stuck 'ere?"

"I'm sure she, uh, didn't mean that, Clover!" Cody chuckled apprehensively. "We'll be fine!"

"I hope so," Melody replied. "I don't want to be trapped. I have a dancing recital next week."

Faye watched Frisk. They were reading a sign on the wall. Faye walked over to them.

" _Only the fearless may proceed_ ," she read. " _Brave ones, foolish ones. Both not walk the middle road._ " She almost laughed. "I sort of understand that. I don't think I'm very brave. What about you?"

Frisk shrugged. "I don't know… I just do what I think feels right!"

"I think it was brave when you saved my life," Faye told them. "And when you saved all of us from that mean flower, and when you wanted to be my friend." She smiled. "You're a real hero."

Frisk beamed. "Aw, you're so sweet, Faye. Honestly."

They adjusted the bow in her hair, giving her a sweet smile. They took her hand in theirs.

"Come on!" they grinned, walking ahead.

"Wait, everyone else!" Faye gasped.

"Don't go without us!" Brayden cried out, charging after them.

"Golly, that kid doesn't wait for anyone!" Clover exclaimed. "Wait up, partner!"

Melody pouted. "Honestly, we can't all run like that."

She and the rest followed after Frisk and Faye. Toriel was waiting in a large room with three rivers underneath wooden bridges. Vines were on the walls. So were signs.

"To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches," Toriel explained. "Do not worry, I have labelled the ones you need to flip."

After that fairly simple puzzle, the group made it to a small area with a fighting dummy.

"As humans living in the underground, monsters may attack you," Toriel instructed. "You will need to be prepared for this situation."

"I don't want to hurt anyone!" Cody exclaimed, holding up his frying pan.

"Those monsters better watch out, 'cause I'm not afraid of 'em!" Brayden grinned.

Faye didn't know what to say. She'd wait and see what monsters were like before choosing how she would act towards them. Frisk's reassuring grin made her feel a bit better.

"There is no need to worry if you stumble across a monster, for the process is simple," Toriel continued calmly. "When you children do encounter one, you will enter a FIGHT. While you are in a FIGHT, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time. I will come to resolve the conflict. Practice talking to the dummy." She gestured at the dummy.

"LET'S GO, DUMMY!" Brayden exclaimed, racing towards the dummy.

"Were you even listening?" Melody asked, chasing after him.

"Battle simulation… how does it work?" Percy mumbled, getting out his notebook. Faye noticed he was shaking again.

"Let's, uh, not hurt the dummy!" Cody squeaked, racing after everyone else. His sister was behind him. Faye kept her grip on Frisk's hand.

The humans encountered the dummy. They were in that same battle simulation as before. Four options stood in front of them: FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, MERCY.

"Toriel said we should, uh, talk to the dummy!" Cody squeaked. He stared at the dummy's button eyes. "Uh, hi there! I'm Cody! It's nice to meet you. I don't really want to fight you, so how about we end this battle?"

The dummy didn't say anything.

Cody sweat-beaded. "Well, you don't have to talk if you don't want to. It's okay!"

"Good job, bro." Clover told Cody, patting his shoulder.

"Can I beat it up now?" Brayden whined, staring at Melody. "This is boring."

Melody shook her head.

"Whyyyy?" Brayden groaned.

"Because violence is not always the answer,"" she responded. "That's what Toriel said. And she is quite right."

"True that," Frisk nodded. "Showing mercy is just as good of an option!" They were sparing the dummy.

Melody gazed at Percy with concern, keeping a grip on his shaking shoulders.

Faye gazed at the dummy. It seemed like a nice dummy, despite its lack of expression or mannerisms.

"Yeah…" Faye gazed at Frisk. "Let's spare it."

Brayden glowered at Frisk. "But that's so freaking boring! Why do you gotta be such a loser?!"

Faye bit her lip. Why was he so mad at Frisk? They were just being friendly...

"Oh, Brayden, not everything exists for your menial entertainment," Melody sighed.

"The dummy didn't do anything wrong," Clover agreed, nodding. "No reason to hurt anyone innocent."

The kids spared the monster. Toriel looked pleased.

"Ah, very good!" she congratulated them. "You are all very good. This way."

She led the kids to the next room. It was quite large. There was a pale purple path on the purple ground. It went into a hall, then to a spike puzzle on some water.

"There is another puzzle in this room," Toriel raised her brow. "I wonder if you children can solve it? Perhaps by working together."

Percy didn't look too happy about that. Faye understood. He liked being by himself.

"Another puzzle?" Brayden groaned.

"You'll have to get used to it," Melody sighed.

The group went through the hall and ran into a monster - Froggit.

"LET'S GO, FROG!" Brayden yelled at the frog, intimidating it.

"Poor frog," Faye pitied it. It was a sad, cute thing.

"Hey there, little guy, we don't mean any trouble!" Cody told it, waving his hands.

"Don't attack anyone, y'hear?" Clover told the frog, giving it a death-stare.

"Let's just spare it," Melody sighed. "It's the right thing to do."

"Yeah," Frisk nodded. "Mercy for the win!"

"But I wanna fight someone!" Brayden complained.

Faye was quite happy not to fight anyone. Fighting sounded scary. Faye didn't like scary.

" _No_ fighting, Brayden," Melody told him. "Only if we need to - and we don't. That goes for you too, Clover."

"Chill, Mel…" Clover mumbled.

"Yeah, mercy is the best option!" Frisk spread their arms. "You guys seriously don't want to **KILL** anyone, do you?"

"Of course not!" Cody gasped. "We're not murderers!"

"Unless one of those monsters deserves it," Clover growled.

" _Clover_ ," Cody deadpanned.

"Listen, I'm a man, not a murderer," Brayden huffed, arms crossed. "Killing is for cowards!"

He struck a pose, his bandanna flowing in the imaginary wind. Melody rolled her eyes. Faye turned away, biting her lip. She was so glad she had Brayden as her best friend. He was truly braver than anyone else she'd ever met.

Toriel showed up and glared at the froggit. It roamed away in shame.

"YEAH MS. GOAT LADY!" Brayden cheered. Melody glared at him. "What? She's a goat lady!"

Toriel only looked amused. "Come along, children."

She led them to the spike puzzle. She stood in front of it, fear on her face. Faye could see why. That puzzle looked daunting.

"This is the puzzle, but…" Toriel frowned. She stared at Frisk, who was in front. "Could you all hold hands for a moment?" She took Frisk's hand. They took Faye's hand.

"WAIT FOR ME!" Brayden barged in at the front, grabbing Faye's other hand. Faye wanted to shrink down, her friends around her. Brayden's gaze at Frisk wasn't a friendly one.

Clover grabbed her brother's hand, very tightly.

"Clover," Cody groaned. "Come on, you'll break my hand." He sighed and grabbed Percy's hand (who looked uncomfortable) and Percy took Melody's. Melody, of course, seemed used to it.

Toriel led the conga-line of children across the puzzle. Faye was honestly being dragged along due to her fear. She was trying not to look back, but it was too hard. The spikes were getting dangerously close. She wanted to grab her toy knife. Her parents gave it to her for reasons she didn't know. They gave it to her before they…

"Puzzles seem a little too dangerous for now." Toriel remarked when the puzzle was done. She headed to the next room. Faye mooched over next to Frisk.

"That was scary…" she murmured.

Frisk patted her shoulder. "Don't be scared! We're all looking out for each other."

Faye smiled at them. "I guess so…"

"Sooooo," Brayden stood in between the two of them. "Bestie." He turned to Faye. "How ya doin'?"

Faye felt his harsh, orange glare piercing her soul.

"I'm doing okay…" she bit her lip.

Brayden put his arm around her, grinning. "Don't be scared, Faye. You've got a super strong man looking out for ya!"

"Me?" Frisk asked.

Brayden held up his fist, Faye snuggling into his shoulder. "NO! YOU'RE TOO BORING TO BE A MAN!"

"Come on, idiots," Melody sighed.

The group went to the next room. It was large and spaced out. There was a path on the floor. Toriel was waiting.

"You have done excellently thus far, my children," she told the kids. "However... I have a difficult request to ask of you all." She paused. "I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourselves… as a group. Forgive me for this." She raced ahead.

"WALK?!" Brayden asked. "Screw that, I'm running!" He ran away, abandoning everyone else.

"For goodness' sake…" Melody groaned.

"He'll come back when he gets bored," Clover snorted. "Always does, dagnabbit."

Faye, however, was feeling very scared. Frisk reached out for her.

"You okay?" they asked.

"I'm scared," she told them. "There's… usually always an adult around, and when there wasn't… we fell down. I nearly died." Her voice choked. "I miss home. I wanna go home. I want my parents to get better." She tried not to cry.

"Oh, Faye…" Frisk furrowed their brow, holding her hand. "It'll be okay. Stay DETERMINED! We'll come out here alive, and you'll see your family again. I'll be with you every step of the way. Here, take this." They offered her a bandage. "It'll heal the wound Flowey gave you."

Faye took the bandage, a small smile appearing on her face.

"I like bandages," she brushed her hair out of her face. "Mommy always said it's a good idea to have bandages." She paused. "Frisk…" She grabbed their hand. "Will you… will you really be there for me, no matter what?"

"Of course," Frisk grinned. "We're friends, aren't we?"

Faye nodded, holding their hand a little longer.

"HURRY UP, SLOW-POKES!" Brayden yelled. He didn't sound scared at all. Faye wondered how that was possible.

"Are you okay, Faye?" Cody asked, walking over. He pulled out a cookie and pet her shoulder. "Do you want this? I made it before."

"Thanks, Cody…" Faye said, taking the cookie. Cody was too nice.

"Oh, and one for you as well, Frisk," Cody gave Frisk a cookie.

Frisk beamed. "Aw, thanks, Cody."

Brayden punched the wall in frustration, eyeing Faye. Melody grabbed his shoulder, making him shout at her. Faye had to wonder why he was suddenly so upset.

Toriel came out from behind a pillar.

"Greetings, my children," she greeted them. "Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time. Thank you for trusting me. However, there was an important reason for this exercise. To test your independence as a group."

The kids gasped.

Toriel continued, "I must attend some business and you all must stay alone without me. Please stay here and together as a group. It's dangerous to go anywhere alone." She gasped. "I have an idea. I will give you a cell phone. If you children have a need for anything, just call. Be good, alright?"

She handed the children a phone. She waved goodbye and left. Faye didn't feel very good.

"This phone is ancient," Percy gasped, observing the phone. "No texting or anything… I must upgrade it at once." He raced off to fix the phone.

"What a geek." Brayden commented.

"Welp, Toriel's gone," Clover sighed. "I suppose we'd better travel by ourselves, y'all."

"Can't we wait a bit…?" Faye quietly suggested. "I mean…"

"BORING!" Brayden snorted. "LET'S EXPLORE! Ms. Toriel won't mind."

"Now, Brayden-" Melody began, but he was already running off. "I should've expected that."

"He's right," Frisk said. "We should check this place out!"

They followed after Brayden.

"Not you too!" Melody exasperated.

Soon, everyone was following them, except Faye. She was behind. She thought she could just wait by herself for Toriel-

"COME ON, FAYE!" Brayden came back. "WE'RE NOT LEAVING ANYONE BEHIND!"

He grabbed her arm and dragged her off. And so her great adventure began.


End file.
